| Marvel Heroes launch-day roundup Posted: 04 Jun 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Launches, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Marvel Heroes Suit up Marvel Heroes! Today's the day you launch into the fight against evil, so grab your costume and join in on thwarting the dastardly plots of Doctor Doom. What's that, you say? You are stuck at work as your alter ego? Well don't let evil get the upper hand -- use the time wisely to prepare for the upcoming battles. To help, we've compiled a collection of videos, hands-on experiences, and even a series of motion comics here to brief you on what to expect when you can finally break free of those workplace fetters and fly into the fray. Continue reading Marvel Heroes launch-day roundup  Marvel Heroes launch-day roundup originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Jukebox Heroes: Warhammer Online's soundtrack Posted: 04 Jun 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Jukebox Heroes, Music Even though it's fashionable to bash Warhammer Online these days (or every day since 2008, I guess), I still have a lot of affection for this particular game. It was the MMO that got me into blogging, connected me with many of my current online friends, and provided exciting experiences for well over a year. So when I hear the music, there's a rush of nostalgia that floods my brain and runs down to my extremities. That's not to say it's a particularly terrific score. I'd probably classify Warhammer Online's soundtrack as slightly below average; it does the job it needed to do, but it doesn't provide any stellar breakout tracks that will endure long after I've logged out. Still, it's worth examining. The score was handled by Mythic in-house composer Brad Derrick (who also helped to make an amusing Dwarf ballad while he was there). What did he come up with to represent this savagely twisted world? Let's find out! Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: Warhammer Online's soundtrack Jukebox Heroes: Warhammer Online's soundtrack originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Massively Exclusive: Witness the betrayal in Aion's 4.0 E3 Trailer -- Beritra's Plot Posted: 04 Jun 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Aion, Expansions, Lore, Free-to-Play We've known for some time now that Aion's upcoming expansion, Dark Betrayal, is coming out this month. And thanks to this weekend's announcement, we even have the exact date the new classes and new lands will become available. But one bit of information has still eluded us: The details of this nefarious betrayal. Who exactly betrayed whom? The answer lies in this new 4.0 E3 launch trailer. Dragon Lord Tiamat, defeated by Daevas, was betrayed by one of her own -- one who stole her dark secret to unlocking a powerful weapon for himself. And now that weapon is poised to bring forth a new era for the Balaur by eradicating Elyos and Asmodians alike. Get a glimpse of the newest threat to Daevas and watch the plot unfold in the launch trailer after the break. [Source: NCsoft press release] Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Witness the betrayal in Aion's 4.0 E3 Trailer -- Beritra's Plot Massively Exclusive: Witness the betrayal in Aion's 4.0 E3 Trailer -- Beritra's Plot originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Guild Wars 2 celebrates Dragon Bash festival by giving us stuff to break Posted: 04 Jun 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Events (In-Game), Guild Wars 2, Humor, Buy-to-Play If you're a fan of ArenaNet's parties (no, not those epic PAX parties -- in-game parties!) then we have a treat for you. Starting June 11, Guild Wars 2 will be celebrating the Dragon Bash festival in game where players can build and destroy giant dragon effigies for candy and boosts, compete at mini-games like Dragon Ball and Moa Racing, win special rewards including exclusive weapon skins and holographic dragon wings, shoot off fireworks, and more. The grand finale will culminate in a lighting ceremony on June 18 in Lion's Arch. To help kick off this year's event, ArenaNet sent around a few real-life piñatas for various gaming website staff to break open themselves and record on video. You can bet that we went a little... overboard with this one. Follow along in the gallery below for images from the festival and after the cut for some piñata bashing, Massively style. Continue reading Guild Wars 2 celebrates Dragon Bash festival by giving us stuff to break Guild Wars 2 celebrates Dragon Bash festival by giving us stuff to break originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| World of Warships debuts cinematic trailer Posted: 04 Jun 2013 06:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Historical, Trailers, Video, War, Free-to-Play, World of Warships In preparation for next week's E3 showing, Wargaming.net has released a brand new cinematic for its naval MMO, World of Warships. This is the first time the game will be shown at E3, and attendees will have the opportunity to participate in "intense naval engagements and deadly aircraft strafing runs." You can bet that Massively will be on hand to give our thoughts on this newest offering from Wargaming, so check back next week for more. [Source: Wargaming press release] Continue reading World of Warships debuts cinematic trailer World of Warships debuts cinematic trailer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Would you get married in-game if you could? Posted: 04 Jun 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous In-game marriages are largely a thing of the past. Outside of outliers like MapleStory and Final Fantasy XIV, most games don't and won't feature the option to tie the knot inside your game of choice. Which might be seen as a bit sad, but it also raises the question of whether or not you'd use the feature even if it were available. Maybe you enjoy roleplaying, maybe you want to have a tongue-in-cheek ceremony, or maybe you play with your spouse and want to be married on multiple levels. Or maybe you think the idea of being pretend married in a pretend game is kind of hopelessly silly to begin with. So today we ask -- if you had the option of getting married in your game of choice, would you take advantage of it? Or do you think it's more or less the apex of unnecessary fluff features in games?  Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!The Daily Grind: Would you get married in-game if you could? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Jun 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| RIFT F2P weekend extended forever times infinity Posted: 04 Jun 2013 05:30 AM PDT |
| State of Decay gets June 5th release date Posted: 03 Jun 2013 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Horror, Launches, Consoles, Post-Apocalyptic, Miscellaneous While the news of State of Decay's release date was leaked out recently, today we have official confirmation. Undead Labs' maiden game will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday, June 5th. Founder Jeff Strain took to the official blog a couple of days ago to talk about the process of deciding upon and cementing a release date. "After that, our job is not done," he wrote. "We have a PC build of the game to finish and deliver. We will certainly want to fix a few bugs that slipped through (we saw a few in the video streams today that we jumped on immediately). And we have super secret plans for a few other treats to roll out in the future that Sanya would shoot me for even mentioning." So while it's not the MMO that will hopefully be forthcoming, it is set in the same world and it made a great showing at last year's PAX Prime. State of Decay gets June 5th release date originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Star Citizen devs pay tribute to Oculus co-founder Reisse Posted: 03 Jun 2013 06:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Culture, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play The Star Citizen team has posted a tribute to Oculus Rift co-founder Andrew Reisse, who died last Thursday after being struck by a car that was fleeing a crime scene. Here at Cloud Imperium Games, the moment we saw the Oculus Rift, there was no question that we had to support it. Here was technology that would allow the player to inhabit the game world like nothing before. Even better, it was another crowdfunding success story: like space sims, big publishers had decided VR was unprofitable, and here were gamers proving them wrong.
We are extremely gratified by the support Oculus has provided our project since our launch. Like us, Andrew and his team dreamed of letting gamers experience their worlds like never before. Now the device he made possible is going to let gamers explore distant star systems with a level of realism no one ever believed possible. We hope that's a fitting tribute. The Oculus team has also posted a memorial and Reisse retrospective. Star Citizen devs pay tribute to Oculus co-founder Reisse originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Not So Massively: Elite galaxy lore, D3's Book of Tyrael, and Dota 2 chat bans Posted: 03 Jun 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Video, Game Mechanics, Lore, MMO Industry, New Titles, Patches, PvP, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, Casual, Dev Diaries, Not So Massively, Sandbox, Diablo III, Star Citizen, Elite: Dangerous, Path of Exile Star Citizen introduced new game designer Pete McKay in the latest episode of Wingman's Hangar, and mentioned plans for a planet-side module and an in-game social bar. Elite: Dangerous delved into the fiction of the Elite universe and confirmed that the entire Milky Way galaxy will be available for play and that humanity will have only explored a roughly 250 lightyear bubble around Earth. Diablo III announced its new lore compendium, the Book of Tyrael, which tells the story of Sanctuary through the eyes of Tyrael himself and reveals unseen threats to humanity that may be part of the planned expansion. Path of Exile will open the doors on its new four-month-long Anarchy and Onslaught leagues this week, with a whole slew of challenges and a t-shirt prize for completing them. In MOBA news, Valve clarified its stance on communication bans following accusations of false positives, and showed off stats highlighting the positive impact chat bans have had on the game. Warner Bros announced a live Infinite Crisis tournament to be hosted by Major League Gaming at E3, and fans of Cyborg got their wishes when the character was finally added to the beta. Finally, Heroes of Newerth released its new Stardust Aluna avatar for a character designed by US actress Paula Garces, and Sins of a Dark Age gave a sneak peek at its Realm Quest system. Continue reading Not So Massively: Elite galaxy lore, D3's Book of Tyrael, and Dota 2 chat bans Not So Massively: Elite galaxy lore, D3's Book of Tyrael, and Dota 2 chat bans originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Nexus Telegraph: Playing a WildStar mind game Posted: 03 Jun 2013 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Classes, Game Mechanics, Opinion, WildStar, The Nexus Telegraph We still don't know exactly what the last two WildStar classes will look like, unless my speculation turns out to be true (and you'd better believe that I believe it). But as it happens, we don't know quite as much about one of the four we are aware of. Espers are a known quantity, but they've been... not hidden, precisely. But they're also not as visible as Spellslingers, Warriors, and Stalkers. Ironic, since they were one of the first classes we knew about. Last week I was focused on unpacking paths from the recent preview event. This time, I want to talk about Espers. I also want to talk about leveling your character and dissecting some of the other information we've been getting about the title, while leaving out one crucial bit of WildStar discussion in anticipation of next week. Yes, I have plans. You'll figure it out or see it in the "next week" blurb. Either way. Continue reading The Nexus Telegraph: Playing a WildStar mind game The Nexus Telegraph: Playing a WildStar mind game originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| 96 percent of EVE Online players are male Posted: 03 Jun 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Culture, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Sandbox CCP marketing bigwig David Reid recently told Destructoid that 96 percent of EVE Online players are male. The site also interviewed EVE senior producer Andie Nordgren, who opined that the numbers are a byproduct of genre. "Part of it is due to the theme of the game. Science fiction is an extremely male-dominated domain," she explained. Whatever the reasons, CCP is OK with EVE's current demographics. "It's not a goal for us as a development team to specifically increase the number of female players," Nordgren said. It's "more an indicator than something [to] strive for." 96 percent of EVE Online players are male originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Wargaming.net removing 'pay-to-win' options from current and upcoming games Posted: 03 Jun 2013 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Historical, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, World of Tanks, World of Warplanes Spend any time in a comment section or forum thread pertaining to World of Tanks and you'll inevitably find accusations of pay-to-win monetization. Wargaming.net has apparently heard the discontented rumblings, as it just announced via an interview with Gamasutra that it is "removing all pay-to-win purchase options from all its current and upcoming titles." The initiative has its own marketing slogan ("free-to-win") and will ostensibly do away with "all payable options that could be viewed as giving a player an advantage in battle." How will the firm make its money, then? "Revenue will come from sales on non-advantageous content such as premium vehicles, personalization options, and the like," Gamasutra reports. Click through the links below for the full interview with Wargaming VP of Publishing Andrei Yarantsau. Wargaming.net removing 'pay-to-win' options from current and upcoming games originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Repopulation gives much love to Rogues Posted: 03 Jun 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Classes, Patches, Sandbox, The Repopulation The Repopulation transitioned into its second alpha test last month, and the team has a quite detailed report about all of the tweaks and features that it added to the game during that period. While there's a lot of everything in the patch notes, Rogues got a big piece of the attention pie. Above and Beyond Technologies reported that it improved the quality of life for Rogue characters through a number of changes. The thievery mechanic got an upgrade, pick-pocketing got several missions, and containers got stubbornly locked. As an aside, there are six stealthed Rogues in the above picture. See if you can spot them! Other changes to the game for the second alpha test include mission chains, random missions, 70 new crafting recipes, two new generic den types, and an overhaul of the reputation system. The Repopulation gives much love to Rogues originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| DC Universe Online producer: PS4 should 'be a great platform for MMOs' Posted: 03 Jun 2013 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Consoles, DC Universe Online DC Universe Online producer Larry Liberty recently shared some interesting insights about SOE's cross-platform superhero MMO with NowGamer. The PlayStation 3 version of the game features a userbase that skews younger than its PC counterpart, and Liberty says that DCUO is the first MMO experience for many PS3 players. He also mentions that PC players appear to be more comfortable with traditional MMO gameplay like guilds, groups, and raids. In terms of the eternal controller vs. keyboard/mouse debate, Liberty says he prefers the former. That said, "the top three finishers in our first-ever DC Universe Online Legends PvP Tournament at SOE Live last year used the keyboard/mouse setup," he explained. Finally, Liberty says he expects the recently announced PlayStation 4 to "be a great platform for MMOs." DC Universe Online producer: PS4 should 'be a great platform for MMOs' originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Elsword adds open-world areas, quadruples in size Posted: 03 Jun 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play Kill3rCombo is adding an open-world element to its manga-inspired actioner called Elsword. A new summer update brings with it brand new "fields of battle" between each of the game's towns. Prior to the patch, Elsword's combat was limited to instanced dungeons and PvP areas. Now, though, players can explore a world that has quadrupled in size, slaying tons of enemies and discovering new towns as they go. We've got new screenshots in the gallery below as well as a new video just after the break. Continue reading Elsword adds open-world areas, quadruples in size Elsword adds open-world areas, quadruples in size originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EVE Online details Odyssey ship rebalancing Posted: 03 Jun 2013 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Dev Diaries, Sandbox When Odyssey hits for EVE Online, it's going to be a whole new ballgame for many of its ships. CCP is planning to revamp and restructure its Navy faction ships across the board and has written up a nice fat post about the upcoming changes. Odyssey will feature 40 revamped hulls, including four brand-new ones. This is being done to fit in with the ongoing ship balancing project that's seeking to kill tiers off in a brutal and uncompromising fashion. It also bring the hulls in line with a "Navy" theme that will be featured in the expansion. There are a lot of changes to absorb, including a change-up to 23 ship skills, a division of cruisers into attack and combat categories, and a rebalancing of Tech 1 battleships. EVE Online details Odyssey ship rebalancing originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| DDO screens bring us into a city prison Posted: 03 Jun 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Expansions, Free-to-Play We recently learned of the dark prison city of Wheloon that Dungeons and Dragons Online players will be entering when Shadowfell Conspiracy releases this August. Turbine sent us several new screenshots of the interior of Wheloon, showing us that the slammer isn't always the jovial, cheery place that the movies make it out to be. Wheloon used to be a normal town, but when it became infested with Shar cultists, the King of Cormyr walled it off and turned it into a massive prison. As if it weren't already a place to actively avoid, the Shadowfell plane has opened up into Wheloon, inviting a bunch of nasty monsters to mix it up with hardened criminals. And yes, you'll be sent into the mix because that's what heroes do. Well, that and start up internet petitions. DDO screens bring us into a city prison originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| World of Warcraft film set to shoot in 2014 Posted: 03 Jun 2013 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, MMORPG Rumors have swirled around the oft-delayed and reportedly troubled World of Warcraft movie for years, but Legendary Pictures finally appears to be ready to move forward with production. Producer Charles Roven confirmed to SlashFilm that World of Warcraft: The Movie 3D IMAX Experience (suggested title) begins shooting in early 2014. Says Roven, "First quarter 2014 we're going to shoot that movie." Duncan Jones, director of Moon and Source Code, is taking the helm. Legendary still hasn't announced a release date or any plot details, but we can assume that the release date is Soon[TM] and the plot will revolve around humans, orcs, and a whole lot of sparkleponies. World of Warcraft film set to shoot in 2014 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Marvel Heroes' Chronicles of Doom reaches its epic conclusion Posted: 03 Jun 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Video, Launches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Marvel Heroes Not to spoil anything from this fourth (and last) entry in the Brian Michael Bendis-penned, animated comic-thing, Chronicles of Doom, but Dr. Doom is sort of a jerk. That's primarily why you'll spend most of your time in the now-live Marvel Heroes working to deliver him a swift punch in the metal jaw. The final episode follows Dr. Doom as his plan to seize the Cosmic Cube comes to fruition and as he broods dramatically and monologues about an invincible army in the way super-villains generally do. There's also a mysterious figure watching Doom from beyond -- presumably pondering a method for intervening in his dastardly plans. Check it out after the jump. And if you missed episode three, well, we've thrown that one in for you as well. Continue reading Marvel Heroes' Chronicles of Doom reaches its epic conclusion Marvel Heroes' Chronicles of Doom reaches its epic conclusion originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Captain's Log: June's Ask Cryptic hints at more changes for STO Posted: 03 Jun 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Expansions, Patches, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-Play, Captain's Log, Neverwinter It's been more than two weeks since Star Trek Online saw the implementation of the Legacy of Romulus, its first expansion. The game has seen its fair share of queues and server crashes, as well as frequent maintenance closures to address the stability problems. In the game's most recent Ask Cryptic column, Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Daniel Stahl, addressed some of those issues, answered numerous player questions about the current state of the game, and also gave hints of what we might see in the months to come. Join me past the jump as I attempt to prognosticate on what his answers actually mean. Continue reading Captain's Log: June's Ask Cryptic hints at more changes for STO Captain's Log: June's Ask Cryptic hints at more changes for STO originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Watch the plague spread in the newest Defiance trailer Posted: 03 Jun 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Trailers, Video, Events (In-Game), Patches, News Items, Post-Apocalyptic, Defiance, Buy-to-Play Last week, players were warned of a plague that was en route to Defiance. This latest cross-over event between the shooter and the television show involves a mysterious illness that is sweeping San Francisco; players must clear out the infected and find a cure to before it spreads to the town of Defiance in the show. And that race to the cure starts today! Want to see what you are up against? Then check out the plague trailer after the cut. Also available in today's Defiance update are a new data recorder, eight new emergencies, two new pursuits, and an all-new game mode. A limited-time mission series will also be available from June 10th to 17th. [Source: Trion Worlds press release] Continue reading Watch the plague spread in the newest Defiance trailer Watch the plague spread in the newest Defiance trailer originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Leaderboard: What's your favorite MMO platform? Posted: 03 Jun 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, Opinion, Mobile, Consoles, Leaderboard OK, this morning's Daily Grind got me thinking about gaming platforms, and given the rising popularity of smart phones, tablets, laptops and possibly even consoles for MMO playing in recent years, a Leaderboard focused on your favorite MMO platform might be a fun exercise. It might also result in PCs winning by a landslide, but hey. Who can tell until we actually do it, right? So, I'll see you in the voting booth after the cut.  Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!Continue reading Leaderboard: What's your favorite MMO platform? Leaderboard: What's your favorite MMO platform? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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One's a cool character, the other's a quiet performer.
A gift your pops will like more than a tie.
Yes, there's still a market for 17.3-inch laptops!
Dude, where's my storage?
Haswell invades Dell.
